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Seven CalMac ferry ‘Mariner’ restaurants win ‘Taste of our Best’...
As Clyde and Hebridean ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne – CalMac – prepares to support Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink, the Mariners restaurants on board its seven larger ships have been awarded...
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Petition for local scans for expectant mothers hits Oban
The unanswerable case for expectant mothers in the hugely dispersed territory of Argyll and the Isles to have local access to maternity scanning services has been gaining strength and voice as a...
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41% more value in new Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services contract – with...
Details and timeline for the new contract for the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services [CHFS[ were announced yesterday, 17th February, with the tender to be issued as a single contract. This puts to bed...
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Brian Wilson on Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services tender
Brian Wilson, born in Dunoon in Argyll and Labour Minister of State from 1997-2003 in the Scottish Office, Foreign Office, Department of Trade and Industry and Energy, is also founding editor and...
View ArticleOban Transit Marina: THE business case and the imperative to go-ahead
After eight years of rolling with the punches in a ‘process’ which has appeared to be little more than a series of contrived obstructions, the Oban Bay Marine team responsible for the proposal for a...
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Quarriers who put Easdale Island on the map may do so again
[Updated below with comment from Michael Russell MSP] Easdale Island – the slate quarries that roofed the world. Sounds like a grand title, doesn’t it – but that’s what made this small island just 16...
View ArticleWhy is quality of service more highly scored in rail than in ferry contracts?
The Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services is currently in the tendering process, with two declared bidders completing the Pre-Qualification Questionnaires: Caledonian MacBrayne [CalMac] and Serco –...
View ArticleHeavy sea fog affecting early inshore Hebridean ferries
A thick sea fog from first light this morning, 23rd April, has led to the cancellation of most of the early ferries to the inshore islands like Gigha, Iona, Lismore, Mull, and the Morvern and...
View ArticleCalMac not having its sorrows to seek with unreliable CMAL fleet
More trouble for the embattled CalMac with vessel unreliability- while the fleet owners, CMAL and the Scottish Government sit quietly back in the shadow, leaving the ferry operator to take the...
View ArticlePossible weather disruption to ferry services
Monday 11th May and, for some services, also Tuesday 12th May may see disruptionto ferry services because of strong forecast winds.Afternoon sailings will generally be more at risk because SSW to SW...
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CalMac off on major face to face consultations on lifeline ferry services
CalMac Ferries is embarking on a major tour of Scotland’s west coast communities to ask ferry users how the customer experience can be improved on their lifeline services.Over the next month, in an...
View ArticleThomas Ralston: A fishmerman’s lament for Mallaig and the passing of time
The years go bye and I’ve now passed my ‘three score years and ten’. So I sit today, my mind goes back, and I remember when A callow lad of just fifteen, I first smelt the acrid smoke From the kipper...
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New Twin Otter planes for Campeltown, Tiree and Barra unveiled
The weather, of course, refused to play fair so this morning’s photocall at Glasgow Airport, 18th May, to unveil the two new Twin Otter DHC6-400 aircraft which will serve the routes from Glasgow to...
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David MacBrayne Limited, Marchwood Military Port contract – and consequences
[Updated at foot 1 June 2015] Back on the 3rd March 2015, it was announced by the Ministry of Defence [MoD] that Solent Gateway Ltd was the preferred bidder for the contract to run the 91 hectare...
View ArticleExpect ferry disruption today in strong winds
Today is going to be one of those days where you stay indoors in Argyll and the Isles, at work, at home and on holiday.Heavy rain is forecast all day, with a mighty 14mm projected to fall in 3 hours or...
View ArticleMV Argyle back in service
Following repairs after the trouble with her turbocharger last week, MV Argyll is back in service on CalMac’s Wemyss Bay – Rothesay route a day earlier than expected.
View ArticleClyde & Hebridean Ferry Services go to Invitation To Tender
[See footnote below] Two operators have been invited to take part in the next stage of the tender for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services [CHFS] contract – which is being taken forward as a single...
View ArticleSevere disruption to west coast ferry services today in RMT strike
[Updated 10.15] Sixteen of CalMac’s twenty-six ferry services have been cancelled for today, 26th June 2015, as a result of a 24 hour strike by the RMT union.Three other services are disrupted. All of...
View ArticleFailing first time round, RMT go for 2nd strike to screw Scotland – and...
In a second all-out strike – scheduled for next Friday, 10th July – RMT members are also to target Argyll Ferries’ Gourock-Dunoon passenger service, in addition to a second hit on CalMac’s west coast...
View ArticleRMT CalMac talks get nowhere today
For the second day running, the talks between the strike-threatening RMT union and the state-owned west coast ferry operator, CalMac, got nowhere.They are to convene tomorrow, Wednesday 8th July, for...
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